med ed
A newsletter for faculty, staff, and students of the University of Minnesota Medical School

No. 378, March 2005

Editor: Kathleen Watson, M.D., drwatson@umn.edu

Editorial Assistant: Allison Campbell, aac@umn.edu

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Moving ahead with MED 2010

MED 2010, the project to transform education at the Medical School, continues to unfold. One faculty member asked the leaders of MED 2010 to define what is different about adult learning. Linda Perkowski, Ph.D., provides the following succinct answer from one education expert. "To learn most effectively, the adult learner should: feel a need to learn, have a problem to solve; perceive the goals of the learning experience to be their own goals; accept responsibility for planning and operating the learning experience; participate actively...; view the process as relating to and using their prior experiences; and, sense some progress toward their own goals." At its Feb. 16 meeting, the planning group agreed upon a vision for MED 2010: "The University of Minnesota Medical School will be an exemplary innovator, attracting outstanding students who seek a rich and flexible educational experience. We value independent thinking, active learning, respect, diversity, mutual success, collegiality, and continuous professional growth. We prepare students to provide health care centered upon the patient, to create, use, and extend medical discoveries, and to improve health care in Minnesota, the United States and the global community." The planning group will serve as the work group for developing a flexible, learner-centered curriculum and assessment. In addition, two other work groups soon will be established.

Award to school recognizes global outlook

Through student interests, course offerings, cross-cultural community programs, and international experiences, our medical school provides a rich environment for those seeking global engagement. In recognition of this global approach, the University of Minnesota Medical School has been selected as the recipient of the 2005 Paul R. Wright Award for Excellence in Medical Education and Excellence in Global Health, given by the American Medical Student Association. The school was nominated for the award by medical student Christy Boraas, M.P.H., who is a member of AMSA. The selection committee was impressed with the school's integration of global health into the medical education curriculum. The award letter noted: "We had a large number of outstanding applicants this year, and this award is a true credit to the University of Minnesota." The award will be presented at AMSA's convention on March 19.

Moving into year two--make your summer count

Medical students moving from year one to year two have nine weeks during the summer to take part in research or work in a rural health-care setting. Students who participated in research or internships last year were glad they did: a survey showed that 98 percent were satisfied with their experiences; 76 percent felt very satisfied. Although some deadlines for external research opportunities have already passed (see http://www.meded.umn.edu/resopps/summer.htm for listings), plenty of opportunities remain off- and on-campus for medical students. In addition, 11 students have already signed up for the summer internship in medicine, a rural experience during which they will shadow a physician and take part in the local health care environment; for more information, call Lori Isaacson at 218-726-7572. The rural-internship program also is seeking rotations in Alaska and in neighboring states.

Seeking a creative outlet? Come together for Harambe

Planning is underway for an evening of multicultural arts called Harambe, which means "let's all come together." The evening is designed to celebrate the healing power of the arts and our common humanity, uniting the medical community with the greater campus community. The organizers are seeking stage performers (spoken word, dance, music, and so on) and visual artists to display work in an art gallery. Interested? Please e-mail Melissa Deer, deer0017@umn.edu. This year, a donation from the event's proceeds will be made to Native American Community Clinic. The event, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m., April 10, is co-sponsored by the Student National Medical Association and American Medical Student Association.

Guthrie actors performed Miss Evers' Boys

Ethics came alive for students in Physician and Society when actors from the Guthrie Theater came to campus Feb. 17 to read Miss Evers' Boys. The play recounts the horror of the Tuskegee experiments in which African-American men infected with syphilis go untreated and remain uninformed so that physicians can study the progress of the disease. (The author is David Feldshuh, who earned his M.D. at our Medical School.) The government recently awarded Tuskegee University reparations and the school used the funds to build a beautiful new Biomedical Ethics Building adjacent to the old haunting hospital where the experiments took place. In a statement published on the school's Web site, Dr. Stephen Sodeke, interim director of the Bioethics Center at Tuskegee University, asserts that the past is not dead. "In 1997, not without a fight here from the Legacy Committee, President William Jefferson Clinton apologized to the nation for the Public Health Service Study of Untreated Syphilis in hundreds of Black males in Macon County. With the apology came support to help establish the Bioethics Center. African Americans have always felt themselves more victimized than enabled by institutions of science. The tragedy of all of this is the fear history will repeat itself. Our aim is to help prevent that."

Celebrate student research day, March 14

Posters featuring student research and a keynote speech, "Medical Mysteries: A Conceptual Framework for Discovery," by Billy Hudson, Ph.D., Director of Matrix Biology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, are among the highlights of the fourth annual Alfred F. Michael Student Research Colloquium March 14. Posters are on display 2:30-5:30 p.m., in the second-floor corridor of Phillips-Wangensteen; a reception honoring the student researchers takes place from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., in the Outside-Inn cafe; and the keynote begins at 4:30 p.m. in PWB 2-470.

Moving on: Match Day, March 17

Faculty members are encouraged to join students and their families and friends at Match Day, which begins 11 a.m., March 17 in the Gateway atrium. Share in students' excitement as they reflect on where they've been--and discover where they're going for residency.

Scheduling matters

Students preparing for year three need to know that scheduling for clinical rotations begins March 21. A lottery will be used to determine time of selection of site and period for the required and elective courses.

Moving to clinicals: Transition Day, April 15

Help is at hand for students preparing for clinical rotations during Transition Day April 15. Second-year medical students from Duluth will join those in the Twin Cities to learn how to do effective presentations, both oral and written; how to write orders; how to write SOAP notes; about do's and don'ts on the patient-care units; how to prioritize in the emergency room; about the culture of surgery; be introduced to log books; and, about OSHA regulations and needlestick procedures. Professionalism will be discussed by students from the Gold Humanism Honor Society and celebrated by honoring six outstanding residents. Orientation activities for Duluth campus students include lunch with faculty members, a tour of the Twin Cities campus, and a welcoming reception starting at 5 p.m.

Seeing more R.E.D. (Resident Educator Development), March 11

The next Resident Educator Development (R.E.D.) program training session, "How to Give a 10-Minute Talk on Anything," is scheduled for 7-9 a.m., Friday, March 11, in B-620. All residents who are involved in teaching are strongly encouraged to participate. To find out more, and to register click on http://www.meded.umn.edu/red/

Duluth wraps up 20^th season of Docs on Call

On Feb. 24, the last Docs on Call in this, its 20^th season, aired on WDSE-TV in Duluth. Ruth Westra, D.O., led the final call-in show, which each week features a faculty member from the Medical School's campus in Duluth and a panel of local physicians. "We are looking forward to our next season," says Ray Christensen, M.D.

Editor's note: Commit to wellness

Health professionals need to walk the talk and commit to promote their own wellness as well as taking care of others' health. Among the initiatives of the U's Wellness program is investigating the feasibility of a proposed farmers market on the Twin Cities campus. If approved, the market would take place on Church Street, Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., beginning in late July. For details, or to find out about the Energy Quest campaign, Circle of Health from the Center for Spirituality and Healing, or other healthy initiatives, check out the Wellness Web site at http://www.umn.edu/ohr/eb/wellness.

Mark your calendar

April 11--Malcolm Cox, recently Dean of Medical Education at Harvard University, comes to our medical school to speak about new directions in medical education.

Literary inspirations

I highly recommend The Life and Times of Michael K, by J. Coetzee. It is the story of a South African gardener who seeks to escape civil strife by taking his mother away from the guns towards a new life in the abandoned countryside. I would appreciate hearing from faculty their recommendations for books; send must-read titles, preferably accompanied by brief descriptions, to drwatson@umn.edu.

A touch of Frost: On a Tree Fallen Across the Road (To Hear Us Talk)

The tree the tempest with a crash of wood

Throws down in front of us is not to bar

Our passage to our journey's end for good,

But just to ask us who we think we are

Insisting always on our own way so.

She likes to halt us in our runner tracks,

And make us get down in a foot of snow

Debating what to do without an axe.

And yet she knows obstruction is in vain:

We will not be put off the final goal

We have it hidden in us to attain,

Not though we have to seize earth by the pole

And, tired of aimless circling in one place,

Steer straight off after something into space.

--Robert Frost